Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Night Shade Books is pleased to announce the creation of Pugilist Press, a new imprint that will focus exclusively on contemporary literary fiction with an edge. Night Shade founder Jason Williams will act as publisher and acclaimed editor Juliet Ulman will serve as editor-in-chief.

“Over the past twelve years, Night Shade Books has established itself as one of the leading publishers of fantasy, science fiction and horror, with stable of authors who have been critically hailed for breaking new ground in their genre,” said Williams. “We’re ready now to bring that ground-breaking vision into the mainstream; with Juliet on board, we hope to become the preeminent home for literary fiction that packs a punch.”

[...]

“What we’re looking for is tough literary fiction with a certain honesty and texture to it,” Ulman explained. “Think Cormac McCarthy, Harry Crewes, Gustav Hasford, Lionel Shriver, Dennis Lehane, Ernest Hemingway. Writers whose stories are extremely well-crafted, but who deal in a narrative style and subject matter that is direct, gritty, and often painful. Those are the voices that Pugilist hopes to bring to market.”

Awesome. On the heels of The Windup Girl winning the Nebula Award for Best Novel, Night Shade announced the creation of a new, lit-fic imprint. First, this means they are doing well enough to expand. Second, they have a focus for the direction they want to take this imprint and with the names they are using to describe what they want to do, I think Pugilist Press is going to be one to watch.

It doesn't hurt that Night Shade itself should be considered one of the premier science fiction and fantasy publishers and brings that pedigree to this new venture.

I'll be looking to see what Pugilist Press brings out in 2011 and beyond.